By Temarie Tomley, Swimming World College Intern
I’m someone who loves music and I listen to it on a 24/7 basis. I listen to almost every genre, old and new. I can’t function or go through my daily routine without it, starting from when I wake up at 5 in the morning to when I go to bed at 10 at night. I couldn’t imagine my swimming without it and neither should you.
Here are four reasons swimmers should listen to music:
1. Pump Up
Photo Courtesy: Singapore Swimming Federation
This one is obvious. We’ve all heard about the pump up playlist. There are many interviews and articles asking Olympians what they are listening to before they step up to a big race or begin a hard practice. Almost every swimmer’s essentials, from summer club to Olympic level, involve a playlist with songs that get the blood pumping and mind focused and ready. I use music to pump me up and I really do think that music can influence someone so much that their swims are better than what they would’ve been without it.
2. Memory Triggers
We all have those songs that every time we hear them they remind us of a time in our swimming careers. These moments are usually either unbelievably funny or involve incredible success. As you get older, there are a lot more. For me, the song was “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer and the year was 2009. I was only 12, and it was one of the first songs loaded onto my hot pink iPod Nano. I remember jamming out with my club teammates to that song on our bleachers on deck before having to go and swim. It was then that my infamous dancing and dance moves were born. This memory comes to me every time I hear that song on my iPhone, seven years later. Everyone can also remember when the U.S Olympic Swim Team made a music video to “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepson. It was the start of USA Swimming’s dance stardom that we all wanted to take part in.
3. Bonding
Photo Courtesy: Amelia J. Brackin
One of the ways I bond with my teammates is through music. Whether it’s a quick dab before pushing off the wall or full on dance party on the pool deck, music is the thing that brings everyone together. Dancing is also an instant mood booster that will bring positive energy and fun to the day. It relaxes the environment in high intensity swims or practice sets. The song that bonds all of us attending the University of Alabama is “Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd. During football season, we will play that song during swim practices on game days and we will all sing it on the walls and when we’re kicking.
4. Practice Motivator
Practice is made so much better when music is playing. I hate showing up to a practice at 6 a.m. when it’s dark, the mood is stagnant and it’s so quiet that all you hear is the generator. We play music on our speaker system at the pool during practices and it gets me ready to go every time. When I show up on deck and music is playing my energy doubles and I automatically light up. I’m not sure whether music is more for the coaches on the pool deck or the swimmers with their heads underwater during practice, but I do know that when the coaches are happy, the swimmers are too.
Music has been a part of half of my swimming career and that’s due to the technology that’s been developed in recent years. Music may not be for every swimmer, but for me and many others it’s the water to my swimming pool.
Savannah Scoons
Fay Salam
Cameron Gillespie
Anais
This isn’t true for swimmers only but for everyone ?
Nikki Hodgson Bornman
Brittany Archer
Mohamad Haidar
Ahmed Tarek